1. Welcome to the Hot Seat Gaurav Bhasin. Tell us a little about yourself off the field. What do you do for a living? What are your hobbies? Etc.
GB: Thanks for having me. Off the field I work as a global project manager consultant for Bloomberg. I enjoy doing kickboxing and during COVID lost approx 30 lbs.
2. Who are your role models growing up and now? Why? What makes a good role model?
GB: My role model growing up was my grandfather who raised me along with my grandmother and mom. My father passed away when I was a child and what made him a great role model was that he worked hard to make sure his family lived comfortably.
3. What is your favorite quote and why? What mottos do you live by?
GB: Don’t judge a book by its cover. That’s a great quote because it applies to everyday life and people you run across. I live by Respect yourself and others will respect you. I try to bring that into softball when I was a manager.
4. When did you start in SASL and how did you hear about SASL? You have been part of our community from the very start right?
GB: So I started in SASL in 2005 from inception, my cousin Amit Bhasin was forming a team with Kyd and wanted me to join. I joined and we had a few of our friends and Zeeshan along with his cousin. We wound up winning the first-ever championship and named ourselves Dynasty. Met a lot of people along the way and saw how this evolved and the hard work Ammad has put in.
5. Throughout the year’s many players left, moved, or retired. Yet you are still playing SASL in its 16th year. Has it gotten more and more difficult over the years to stay active in the league?
GB: Being Indian I fight a lot of genetics and weight is a big part of it. So I play SASL to be active and hopefully see my son in there one day. He’s 8 years old and I know Hit Squad and Troopers have second-generation players on their teams. Hoping I can be another proud dad with a son in SASL. I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life and still excited about playing. There’s been a lot of politics, friendship friction, retirements but we keep coming back. At one point Dynasty was dissolved when Amit left to play for Wolfpack and other players left but Sajid and I resurrected the team again a few years ago. A lot of players have played for Dynasty in the past and several teams were formed from Dynasty.
6. In 2005 Dynasty won its only championship in its franchise. How was that win? Do you remember much from that season?
GB: I remember playing on the grass fields in Plainview without umpires and calling our own strikes and self pitching. It was great because we didn’t have any other leagues we knew about and it was awesome to play with other South Asians. Winning the first title will always ensure you’re in the history books.
7. Since then I believe you guys have made 4 Finals and lost them all. Tell us what happened in each one:
-2016 Finals against Hit Squad:
* I remember when I showed up to the field, Mike said he had food poisoning the night before and it was a scorching day. There was also some friction going on with the team. We did really well in the regular season but I think the biggest thing that has hurt is the animosity at times within the team with respect to players not playing. So when the game starts and there’s a lack of support from the entire team it really hurts the moral. Hit Squad came out and played extremely well, but we had some wounded players. Tip my hat to them.
-2017 Fall Finals against Suicide Squad:
* I remember us playing well in the fall season but Suicide Squad wasn’t a pushover. They were really a stacked team. We were holding up against them and won the first game and were leading the second game. There was an altercation that happened with Khurram and one of our players and I think that fired them up. I truly believe in momentum and at that point, it shifted. We were to game 3 and lost by a run I believe. It was really hard-fought.
-2018 Fall Finals against Nature Boys:
* This was a repeat from 2017 again. Nature Boys again were stacked. For some reason, I don’t recall the details, but we didn’t fight as hard in this matchup. We again had some issues going on with some of the players internally but felt that we had built a really good squad here. We had Harp in this game and he started cramping up in the second game.
-2019 Fall Finals against The North:
GB: I dunno what to say, it’s like a broken record at this point. We had one of the best teams in several years but in the playoffs, for some reason, we didn’t have the same production. As the previous falls, this team was very good as the current summer season is showing. We got swept in 2 games but in the second game, I thought we were fighting back and seemed like we would be able to force a game 3. That obviously didn’t happen. We seem to be the bridesmaid but never the bride lol or the Buffalo Bills from the 90s.
8. Do you think That Dynasty would have won a championship if Sajid and/or you were not the captains of the team?
GB: I don’t believe that come playoff time everyone needs to produce. We had players in those seasons that allowed us to be the best team. I would never change anything in the past since we had some good players in the team but then there were always situations with certain players over the years friends as well as others we brought in that didn’t play nice with everyone. I think the word “team” is something that everyone on a team needs to understand. When people undermine or get offended it leads to issues on and off the field. Chemistry wins championships, not captains. We tried to build good chemistry but realize as the season moves on things change. I give a lot of credit to Hit Squad, North, etc for building good chemistry and keeping that going into the playoffs. We have built a good product and people respect Dynasty as a great team.
9. Does it ever bother you when people make comments about how Dynasty keeps losing in the playoffs after building many strong teams? Is it a fair criticism?
GB: Sure it bothers me that we haven’t won the championship since that’s what we play for. But I’m 44 years old and priority for me is family and friends. I get to see my friends from childhood every Sunday along with my cousin. We still have brought back better teams that are always in contention. Trust me I’ve been on Dynasty teams that prior to bringing the team back use to always finish at the bottom. But, each of us have things outside softball, and to me, life has been great.
10. Do you miss it when Dynasty was a family team? What happened to Balu and Kyd?
GB: I mean the core of our team is still family and friends. Saj and Yamin are cousins. Amit and I are cousins and we have known each other for over 30 years. Those guys live in New Jersey and eventually, life moved on.
11. Over the years, which teams and players did you enjoy facing the most, and why? What were some epic battles against other teams/players for you/Dynasty?
GB: I still enjoy the games with Dynasty and Shock years ago. It was always a battle playing Solyman, Hakim, and Ali teams over the years. There was always respect there but I always remember our games going down to the wire.
12. This off-season you guys already had a strong core and re-signed them all pretty much. In addition, you were able to add a great pitcher in Ali Ghumman and outfielder Kunal Oak. What was the recruiting like and what was your offseason goals like for this year?
GB: I have to give credit to Yamin/Sajid for doing the recruiting. We had Ali pitch for us in fall a couple of years ago. He’s one of the best and most passionate players I have ever seen. I’ve faced him over the years when he was with the Ballers and I definitely want him on our side. In the past even though we made it to the finals pitching wasn’t the strength. I think we filled a big void.
13. Dynasty is currently 10-2 and second place in standings. You guys are one of the favorites to win it all this year. What is your expectation for the rest of the season? Who are our biggest challenges in the playoffs you feel like?
GB: I expect Dynasty will make it to the finals as long as our chemistry continues and everyone produces. Don’t want to jinx by saying anything else 🙂 I think the game against Hit Squad was a humbling experience. Going into that game I think we thought we would be able to win like the games before. But they came out with a lot of passion and I know Solyman had that game circles and wanted to make a statement. He has a lot of passion as well.
14. What makes this year different than the 4 Dynasty teams that made 4 different Finals over the last 4 years?
GB: I think the fact that we added Ali & Kunal makes us better than the past 4 years and the hope is for a better outcome as a result.
15. The cap system has forced Dynasty to cut some friends and family when it was first introduced in 2017. What are your feelings on the cap system now?
GB: I think the cap system intent is good, but I do think that perhaps the point system seems to favor certain players and teams.. I’ll just leave it at that. I find us constantly battling to get players and keeping them. I gave up being captain to Saj at one point since I couldn’t take the stress of drama from grown men about playing softball.
16. You have been in the SASL for a long time. Give us your SASL Mt. Rushmore and why.
Ammad – He is George Washington
Pragnesh – One of the best hitters, Dynasty actually merged with them one year
Dan – Just look at his rating
Harp – Original SASL player who continued through all the years at a high level
17. What makes SASL different than any other league you played in or play for? What would be one change you would make if you could in the SASL?
GB: I love SASL for the organization, content that’s produced. People love playing for this league because of its our community but there’s quality from the teams and the league. The only change I would make is that the commissioner couldn’t play for the league. I know that’s controversial but right now people always question the ratings of certain players that play on the commissioner’s team.
18. How have you kept busy during the quarantine? What did you miss most not being able to do?
GB: I’ve been doing a lot of Tiger Shulmann’s kickboxing. I really missed hanging out with friends, but I have my grandmother and mom that live with me and my family. I needed to make sure they were fine.
19. Three words or less: Describe these players:
- Sajid Kakana: Passionate Leader
- Yamin Patel: Beast
- Amit Bhasin: Best Hitter
- Omar Hernandez: Speedy Hitter
- Mike Liang: Speed & Quite
- Milan Patel: Consistent
- Khurram Syed: Overly Passionate
- David Poon: Team Player
- Ariel Arvelo: Strong Hitter
- Kunal Oak: Mr. Brains
- Ammad Sheikh: Godfather
- Ramin Rasuli: Best Lefty
- Ali Najimi: Great Rival
20. Rapid Fire Round:
- Best SASL memory: SASL Championship
- Worst SASL memory: All Final Losses
- Most Talented SASL team ever: Softballers
- The funnest SASL team you been part of: First Dynasty Team
- Favorite teammate ever: Amit Bhasin
- Worst SASL jerseys ever: Lions
- The most overrated player in SASL: Anwar
- The most underrated player in SASL: Yamin
- Best ASA bat ever: Freak
- Favorite Nassau softball field: Mitchell
- 3 words to describe you: Love Playing Softball
- Most swaggy player: Dan
- Your favorite vacation you have been to Brazil
- Next vacation destination: Cancun
- Favorite TV Show: Breaking Bad
- Best beard in SASL: Asad
